Royal Mail share price up, to appoint TUI chief as new chairman

British mail operator Royal Mail Plc announced on Wednesday it will appoint Peter Long, current joint CEO of holiday operator TUI AG, as its new chairman.

Mr. Long will join Royal Mails board as a non-executive director on June 18th 2015 and succeed Donald Brydon as chairman on September 1st, the company said. Mr. Long, who has more than 20 years of experience in FTSE 100, customer-focused companies, had already announced he will step down as TUI chief executive next February and assume the role of chairman of the travel firms supervisory board.

“I will be pleased to hand over to Peter in September, and will work closely with him in the coming months,” said Mr. Brydon. “His many years of experience in customer-focused companies will complement our diverse Board as Royal Mail continues its transformation.”

The directorate change comes two years after Royal Mails £3.3-billion privatization, with the governments remaining 30% stake in the postal operator expected to be sold in this parliament. The company reported a pre-tax profit of £400 million in the fiscal year ended March 30th, a sharp drop from £1.7 billion a year earlier, which was mainly due to a large one-off pension benefit in 2013-2014.

“Peter Long brings with him a proven track record in transforming the fortunes of large and complex companies and I look forward to working with him,” said Royal Mail chief executive Moya Greene. “Donald Brydon has led our Board through a period of tremendous change at Royal Mail and we are all most grateful for his wisdom and counsel during this key time for our Company.”

Mr. Brydons successor was appointed following a comprehensive search process, led by Senior Independent Director Orna Ni-Chionna with the assistance of an executive search firm, Royal Mail said. Once appointed as chairman, Mr. Long will be paid £300 000 per annum on a pro-rata basis.

The mail operator said on May 29th it had boosted on January 1st Ms Greenes basic pay by 10% to £510 000 in the year through April from £498 000 a year earlier. Her total pay package amounted to £1.52 million for the 2014-15 financial year and her basic salary this fiscal year will be £547 800.

Royal Mail Plc traded 0.92% higher at GBX 528.80 per share at 09:32 GMT in London, marking a one-year increase of 2.28%. The company is valued at GBP 5.24 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 16 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Royal Mail Plc have a median target of GBX 490.00, with a high estimate of GBX 625.00 and a low estimate of GBX 340.00. The median estimate represents a 6.49 % decrease from the previous close of GBX 524.00.